But for all the money that the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham have lavished on new faces, it is United and Chelsea who start the season once again as most people's favourites for the title.



With Uefa Cup places also up for grabs and new boys Birmingham, Derby and Sunderland desperate to preserve their top-flight status it promises to be a fascinating season.

And you can keep up to date with all the action on BBC Sport, including:

Highlights on Match of the Day on Saturday evenings (repeated on Sunday mornings) and MOTD2 on Sunday evenings - this season broadcast simultaneously on the BBC Sport website (UK only).

Features, news and updates on Football Focus and Score on BBC One every Saturday.

Live match text commentary on the website and for mobiles plus all the scores and stats, news, previews, reports and reaction, as well as features, comment, photos and interaction online - including player rater.

Live commentary on Radio Five Live, with reports from the ground at every Premier League game - plus a daily podcast every Sunday-Thursday.

Live scores for every matchday on Ceefax and BBCi via your television.

Our 606 website for your views, plus Tim Lovejoy, Alan Green and Spoony on the 606 phone-ins on Radio Five Live every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated his team's success last season by buying Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves.

And with the drawn-out Carlos Tevez saga finally coming to a close, Ferguson has certainly bolstered his squad as he goes in search of more silverware this season.

Chelsea, in contrast, have had a relatively thrifty summer, with Lyon's Florent Malouda the only big-money arrival.

But the arrival of Tal Ben Haim, Claudio Pizarro and Steve Sidwell on free transfers could be just as siginificant for a squad that struggled with injuries last season.

Those problems have returned, with the likes of John Terry, Didier Drogba, Andrei Shevchenko, Michael Ballack and Wayne Bridge sidelined and several others doubtful for Chelsea's opener against Birmingham.

Expectation will be high at Anfield after Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez spent the summer assembling a squad he believes is capable of challenging for the title.

The likes of Andrey Voronin, Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel and Lucas Leiva have all arrived over the summer ahead of their opening game at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Tottenham have again spent big and their fans will hope that it allows them to make the leap into the top four at the expense of an Arsenal team coming to terms with the departure of Thierry Henry.

Fulham's Lawrie Sanchez, Bolton's Sammy Lee, Sunderland's Roy Keane, Derby's Billy Davies and Manchester City's Sven-Goran Eriksson start a season as Premier League managers for the first time.

Eriksson's City remain an intriguing and unknown quantity with the former England coach having recently undertaken a spending spree in the region of ?40m.

City begin the campaign at West Ham, who have also been active in the transfer market, with Scott Parker, Freddie Ljungberg, Julien Flaubert and Craig Bellamy coming in, and Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood going out.

A new era starts at Newcastle under Sam Allardyce, while Aston Villa will expect greater consistency in Martin O'Neill's second season.

Blackburn, Everton, Portsmouth and Reading all enjoyed successful seasons last time and face the difficult task of following those up with high expectations from their fans.

Middlesbrough and Wigan will have aspirations of improving on last season.

It all starts on Saturday, with Sunderland entertaining Tottenham in a 1245 BST kick-off.